


it gets less lonely when you're not alone

by toflowerknights



Series: the Skybox series [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-15
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2018-02-08 22:05:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1957773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toflowerknights/pseuds/toflowerknights





	it gets less lonely when you're not alone

Jasper doesn't sleep well the first few days. He's one of the non-violent offenders, so he gets to share a room with two other guys. None of them are Monty. One of them got sent here for stealing rations for his sick mother and the other for getting drunk in public. They've been there for a few years already and are nearing their 18th birthday. Neither of them bother to introduce themselves, the only thing they say is to stay out of their space and stay quiet. Jasper get a tiny bunk and a thing, well used cover and that's it. His new home.

He spent his first night staring at the bottom of the bunk above him. He counted the scratches and dents and wondered if the guy before him had made them. Or the guy before him, and so on. When the bell rang, telling him that it was time to wake up, it felt as if he hadn't been asleep at all. They got served an abysmal breakfast, even worse than usual, before they had permission to leave their cell. He stumbled out of the door and his heart fluttered in relief when he immediately crashed into Monty. He looked just as tired as he was and for a moment they just faced each other. Monty looked at him from under his bangs and the worry was so evident that Jasper immediately felt sorry for him. He gave Monty a grin and held up his hand in greeting. Monty relaxed remarkably and raised his as well. They greeted each other like they always did and for a moment this was just another day. Him and Monty together, as always.

Though that was probably what got him here in the first place.

They didn't do much the first day, just found a place where they could just sit and not do anything. Monty tried to say he was sorry at least five times, but Jasper didn't want to hear it. He wasn't sure it was because he was angry or because he didn't care. They were there, and that was that. No time to dwell on it. Well, there was one year and two months to dwell on it, but that was beside the point. He didn't want to spend unnecessary time hating his best friend. It would only hurt him in the end.

-

The first week passed surprisingly fast seeing as they had nothing to do besides passing time. He learned to sleep in a bed that hadn't been his for 17 years and he learned that hungry was just the way of life. His mother came to visit the moment she was allowed to and she sat opposite him, face ashen and mouth pinched, and looked as if she was about to cry. Jasper hated to upset her. She reached out a hand and gently grabbed his own. He let her pull his hand close and tried not to look her in the eye.

"You look thin. Do you get fed enough?"

Jasper closed his eyes and tried not to let her quivering voice get to him. "It’s fine, ma"

She shook her head and pinched her lips tighter together so that all he could see was a thin, white line. She stroked her thumb over the roof of his hand, something she always did when she knew he was upset and he pulled his hand free from her grip. His mum looked startled at the gesture and he regretted it immediately. They hadn't seen each other since his arrest and he behaved like shit. She placed her hands in her lap and Jasper looked over at a young girl talking to her dad. He couldn't stand seeing his mother opposite him. He knew she was disappointed in him, she didn't have to say anything.

"So," she said shakily. "How's Monty doing?" There was an odd tone to her voice and Jasper felt irritation starting to replace the guilt.

"He's fine," he said shortly. "His parents are visiting when we're done here." His mother nodded slowly and didn't say anything else. They sat in silence until their time was always up and when Jasper got out of his chair and walked toward the exit his mother turned to face him.

"I don't blame you, you know that right?" she said and Jasper smiled sadly at her.

"I know," he said quietly. "But you blame Monty, and that's even worse."

-

He didn't talk to Monty about what had happened and instead he let Monty tell him about his visit instead. Monty sounded cheerful, though his eyes were sad, and he told him about how his mother had tried to hug him more than once and had gotten a stern look from one of the guards. He was trying to keep his spirits high, but Jasper didn't know why he bothered. They knew each other too well to be fooled by fake smiles. Still, Jasper didn't point it out and Monty didn't ask about his mother.

Jasper grew tired the weeks that followed. The days were starting to blur together and it was just one day looking exactly like the next. He started dreading the visits with his mother because every time she would visit she would stare at him with big, sad eyes and make small comments about how her sweet, dear boy didn't deserve to be in there. She had handed him his goggles the last time she was there and said something about how he always used to wear these and it was a shame if he couldn't do it anymore because he was locked up.

Monty smiled widely when he saw the goggles. "Seems like old times," he said and Jasper snapped.

"Well, it isn't." Monty took a step back and people around them looked up in surprise. "Fuck, Monty... It's not the same anymore, okay? We're not on some experimental field trip to another station. We're in _prison_. You got us locked up in prison."

Monty didn't say anything and when Jasper finally could breathe properly enough he looked at him. Monty's eyes were filled with guilt and his lips were pressed together. Jasper was immediately filled with regret and reached out a hand to grab ahold of Monty, but he shied away. "I said I was sorry," Monty said quietly. Jasper nodded quickly and took a step forward.

"Yeah, fuck, yeah. I know Monty," he said and pulled Monty with him into his cell. Fortunately, it was empty. "Fuck, I'm sorry," he continued and rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I didn't mean it, Monty. I don't blame you, you know that, right?" When Monty didn't reply Jasper wrapped his hands around Monty's arms and shook him lightly. "Monty, you gotta believe me. Fuck, it was my idea in the first place. It's my mum, she's messing me up, I'm sorry."

Aware of that he was rambling Jasper did the only thing he could think of. He pulled Monty in for a hug and didn't ease up until he felt Monty's arms wrap around his back. Jasper counted the seconds that passed and wondered when it was okay to let go in situations like these. "Are you gonna hug me all day?" Monty's muffled voice said against his shoulder and Jasper pushed him away with a 'fucking asshole'. They faced each other with small grins on their face. Monty's eyes were still serious though and Jasper still felt the guilt deep in his chest. Tentatively he raised his hand with his palm forward and Monty's lips turned up in a small smile. They high fived themselves and then continued their day without interruption.

-

Four months into his incarceration Jasper decided he didn't want his mother to visit anymore. The guilt and the anger was slowly erasing ever ounce of happiness left in him, and he didn't want that to happen. He punched a guard in the face to get privileges revoked and when the next visitation day came he stayed behind as Monty went to see his family. When he got back he didn't say a word, but Jasper figured that his mother had been there, just to be turned away. Hopefully she wouldn't try to visit again. Hopefully she would have some sort of normalcy on the outside.

Funnily enough the pressure of him not having to face his mother every week made life in prison much easier. He found himself relaxing and accepting the fact that he wasn't going anywhere in a while. The guy in the bunk above him disappeared one day and Jasper made the guards move Monty into his cell in exchange for the permanent revocation of his visitors rights. When Monty asked him how he had pulled it off he just shrugged and told him it was dumb luck. They stayed up the whole night and talked like they used to and they almost got punched in the face by the guy that had been trying to sleep next to them.

Monty still kept saying that he was sorry, and Jasper continued to wave it off. He didn't care anymore and knew that it would take a lot of effort to make Monty see that. But he had a lot of time on his hands to make that happen. He still missed his mother, but he knew that it all had worked out for the best. Better to let her hold on to the happy memories of him than the ones of him fading in a cell.


End file.
